Needle bar for flat knitting machines



April 12, 1938. L. HIRSCH 2,113,788

NEEDLE BAR FOR FLAT KNITTING MACHINES Original Filed Oct. 1, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Louis Hirsch BY \I's ATTORNEA April 12, 1938. L. HIRSCH NEEDLE BAR FOR FLAT KNJ ITTING MACHINES Original Filed Oct; 1, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

\ m ATTORNEY.

L o It 5 H1? rsch ir 1x NEEDLE BAR FOR FEAT KNITTING MAC S Louis Hirsch, Weehawken, N. J.

Application October 1, 19st, Serial No. reason Renewed February 8,1938

Claims.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in needle bars for flat knitting machines and in particular for those of the single unit type upon which stockings are knit complete 5 andin which the central section of the needle bar is swingable out of knitting position so that the knitting of the instep may be suspended without removingthe instep loops from the needles while the heel tabs are being knit. in In stockings of different sizes the widths of theinstep and adjacent foot portions should vary in. order to maintain the proper proportions between them so -that each will cover the corresponding parts of large and small feet. In presl5 ent day single unit machines this is impossible because no-means is provided for altering the length of the several needle bar sections.

It has been suggested that thin needle bar sections be swingably mounted between the swingor swinging sections, as the case may be, by the adjustment of a restraining bolt adapted to bear against the frontedges of one or more of these sections. This device has not proved commercially practicable because of the impossibility of maintaining the thin sections in the essential accurate alignment with the other portions of the needle barv or accurately spaced in relation to the other needles.

Another attempt to solve the. problem was a needle bar, in which the thin sections are elimi-- nated and a number of complete, swingable central needle bar sections of diiferent lengths supplied, the adjacent rigid sections of the needle bar being adjustable longitudinally to complement the shorter or longer central sections. This device has also failed to meet commercial approval because of the large cost of the many central .40 sections required for even one single machine, the labor and dificulty of replacing one with another, and the difiiculty of properly adjusting the rigid sections to secure the extremely accurate needle spacing required and yet leave suificient clearance 45 for the free swinging of the central section.

The invention herein differs from those mentioned in that there are no loosely mounted auxiliary sections as in the first example and no complete replaceable central sections or adjustable 50 rigid sections as in the second example. To the contrary, the rigid and central sections are permanent and positively positioned .parts of the needle bar the variations in length'being obtained by small sections which can be transferredfrom .55 the rigid to the central sections or vice versa but ing and fixed needle bar sections so that one or more of them may be used with either the fixed commercial attributes of cheapness, reliability and ease of manipulation.

One form of the invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the needle bar; Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof showing the central section swung out of knitting position;

Fig. 3 is a view partly in section along the line Fig. 4 is a front view of the right end of the left section of the needle bar with the removable sections detached therefrom;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the adjacent left end of the central section of the needlebar with the removable sections similarly detached;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a part of the left and central needle bar sections on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3 viewed as indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. '7- is a view inperspective of one of the removable needle bar sections; and

Figure 8 is a front view corresponding to Figs. 4 and 5 and showing a modified form of the invention. I

As' already generally stated and as shown in the drawings the needle bar consists of'a swin able section i and end sections 2 and 3 which are rigidly bolted to the needle bar support. Each of these needle bar sections consists in general of a face plate, a needle bed grooved as usual to receive the needles 6 and needle clamps. In the case of the swingable section I the face plate may be integral with the swingable support 8 which, as is well known, swings upon a pivot such as 9. The needle bed 5 is held against the face plate by bolts i0 and'the clamps are held against the needles and needle bed by bolts H. In short, the general construction of the needle bar sections may be strictly standard. Also the mounting of the central swingable section 8 may conform to standard practice including the automatic looking and releasing mechanism which is indicated at i2 in Fig. 1 but not described since it forms no part of the present invention.

The inner end of each of end sections 2 and 3 33 of Fig. 1 viewed as indicated by the arrows;

of the needle bar terminates in a number of short sections l3, l3 each carrying a number of needles. Similar small sections l4, l4", I4" form a part of the central needle bar section at each end thereof. As shown, each of these sections carries four needles but this may be varied as by a bolt I'I anda needle clamp I8 held in position by a bolt l9. Therefore, each section is a complete needle holding device.

Each section is also drilled as at 20 to permit the passage therethroughof a bolt 2i whereby the small sections may'be bolted securely to the remainderof the needle bar sections. Since the clearance between the end and central sections should be only sufficient to permit the central section to swing freely the two small sections 13 and Id at adjacent ends should be countersunk to receive the heads of bolts 2| as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. a

In order to insure .accurate alignment arecess 22 is provided in the end sections 2 and 3, a corresponding projection 23 upon one side of all but one, H, of the small sections, and a corresponding recess 24 upon the other side. 23 is designed to fit accurately into recess 22 or -24. The projection 23 is omitted from the small sections l4 which constitute the ends of the central needle bar section I as shown most clearly in Fig. so that there will be no interference with the closing of the central section I.

If each of the small sections is of the same length it will be evident that, with the exception of the two sections which are countersunk to receive the heads of bolts 2| they may be shifted so as to make needle bar sections 2 and -3 shorter or longer and to correspondingly lengthen or shorten the central swingable section I. This is made perfectly clear in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4 two small sections l3 and '3 are shown removed from the rest of left end section 2. Section I3 is countersunk to receive the head of bolt 2]. To shorten section 2 the left small'section l3 may be removed and the other small section I3" replaced and rigidly secured by bolt 2|, the projection 23 fitting within recess 22. 3 Similarly as shown in Fig. 5 the small sections I4, 14*, and

[4 may be removed from central section I, section l3 added thereto and the four sections replaced and secured by bolt 2|. Section; I is provided with a projection 25 which will register .with recess 24 of small section 13 or with the similar recess of any other small section. Similar rearrangement will, of course, be made between the right end of section I and the left end of section 3 which are also provided with similar small needle bar sections, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Therefore, by simply transferring one or more small sections from end sections 2 and 3 to the central section I or vice versa, the several sections Each projectionstep and foot widths without afiecting thestandard single unit needle bar designin general or the mode of operation of the machine. The essential feature of rigidity and accurate needle alignment are evident and also the commercially equally important features of simplicity and low cost. Needle bars of existing single unit machines may be readily provided with this invention without even altering the standard construction in general of the needle bar itself.

A modified form of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 8 in which the two sets of removable needle bar sections shown in Figs. 4 and 5 are replaced by a pair of similarly removable'sections 26 and 2'! similar in construction in all respects withthe exception that the length of section 26 is equal to the combined lengths of sections l3 and |3 of Fig. 4 and the length of the other section 21 is equal to the combined lengths of sections M, M and W of Fig. 5. In other words, section 26 carries eight needles corresponding to two of the small four needle sections and section 21 carries twelve needles corresponding to three of the small sections. Each of these sections is provided with a groove 24 similar to the groove bearing the same number shown in Figs. 4 and 5, but

because of their greater length the rib 23 of the sections shown in Figs. 4 and 5 may be supplanted by another groove 28 and the groove 22 in the end section 2 of the needle bar may be supplanted by a rib 29 corresponding to rib 25 on .the other section I. Thus either one of each pair example, the live small sections shown in Figs. 4

and 5 provide for six diiferent instep widths and they all form a permanent part of the needle bar. To secure a flexibility equivalent to that of the form of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5 three difierent pairs of removable sections would berequired only two of which would be attached to the needle bar at one time. Since a standard knitting machine is able to knit say twenty or more stockings at one time and the needlebar for each would require duplicate pairs of removable sections the problem of storing the sections not in use might be troublesome and for that reason the form of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in which all of the sections form a part of the needle bar at all times is preferred.

What I claim is: r

1. 'A needle bar for a fiat knitting machine consisting of a pivoted central section and fixed end sections, said central section terminating at each end in segments positively attached to the remainder of the central section but adapted to be removed therefrom and to be positively attached to the adjacent ends of the fixed sections therebyshortening the central section and correspondingly lengthening the fixed sections.

2. A needle bar for a flat knitting machine consisting of a pivoted central section and fixed end sections, the ends of said .central section and the adjacent end of each fixed section each terminating in one or more segments positively attached thereto but adapted to be removed therefrom to shorten it and to be positively attached to the adjacent end of the adjacent section to correspondingly lengthen it.

3. A needle bar for a flat knitting machine according to claim 2 in which the removable seg-,

sections, the ends of said central section and the adjacent end of each 'iixed section each terminating in one or more segments rigidly attached thereto but adapted to be removed therefrom to shorten it and to be rigidly attached to the adjacent end of the adjacent section to correspondingly lengthen it, the non-segmental parts of each section being provided with means cooperating with means on each segment for securing accu-'- rate alignment between the non-segmental and segmental parts.

5. A needle bar for flat knitting machines consisting of a pivoted central section and fixed end sections, the ends of said central section and the adjacent end of each fixed section each terminating in one or more segments rigidly attached thereto but adapted to be removed therefrom to shorten it and to be rigidly attached to the adjacent endof the adjacent section to correspondingly lengthen it, the non-segmental part of each section and also each segment being provided with means for securing accurate alignment between associated segments and between such'seg- 

